Personal Chef To Go's Official Blog

March 2014

03/26/2014

If you’re overweight and unmotivated to change your life drastically, just make a tiny change.

You’re not alone. There are more overweight people today than ever before, as a percentage of our population and in sheer numbers. I’ve been overweight (65 pounds heavier than I am today) and I know that it doesn’t feel good.

I also know that when we’re overweight, we often go into denial. We think it’s not a problem, or that we’re not that unhealthy, or that it’s something we can fix later. Or more likely, we try hard not to think about it. But it’s there, at the back of our minds if nowhere else, making us feel bad about ourselves and our lives, influencing the rest of what we do.

If it were just a body-image thing, I’d say learn to love your body — and I believe that. Forget the cover models on magazines, the perfect people on TV and in movies. They’re just being used to sell us stuff, but the result is that we get bad body images for not having rock-hard abs. Forget about that. What worries me, though, about friends and family who are overweight is their health — having a big belly puts you at risk of heart disease, diabetes and other similar problems.

Scary stuff.

But how do you start getting healthier and fitter? How do you change a whole slew of habits, from eating too much to eating fried and sweet and fatty foods to drinking sodas and sweet coffee drinks to being sedentary?

You make one change. A tiny little one.

For me, it started with quitting smoking (which is a big change), but then I took up running (starting with just 10 minutes), and then I started changing my diet in little ways.

One small change leads to another, forming a spiral of success. But you don’t need to worry about all the other changes you’re going to make later.

What Change to Start With

Really, you could start with almost any positive change. What matters is that you start.

But if you’d like a recommendation, here are a few:

1. Eat more veggies. Go to the store today and buy a basket of veggies. Eat them raw as snacks (dip in hummus if you like, not fatty dressings), steam them as side dishes for lunch and dinner, puree them and put them into your usual recipes, eat a salad before your meal. You can start with just one of these changes, and slowly add more veggies each week. This is an easy change but it’s actually huge — more fibre, more vitamins and minerals, fewer calories equals leaner you.

2. Walk. Best exercise ever. Just walk for 10 minutes to start with. Get a friend or your significant other to walk with you and enjoy the conversation. Enjoy nature. After you’ve gotten used to walking, try intervals: 3 minutes of fast walking, 3 minutes of conversational walking, repeat.

3. Drink water. People drink too many calories — soda, beer, smoothies, mochas, frappucinos, shakes, juice, Gatorade. None of those are necessary. Get used to drinking water, which is refreshing, delicious and healthy.

4. Get rid of the junk. This is actually a bit of a drastic change but it makes a really big difference. Take all the junk food in your house (chips, pastries, ice cream, cookies, prepared foods of any kind, fried foods) and toss them. Clean out your fridge and pantry. Buy fruits, veggies, nuts and beans instead, and try some new flavorful recipes. If the junk isn’t around, it won’t tempt you.

How to Make That One Change

You’ve picked your one small change … but how do you get started?

Just take the first small step. Nothing huge or scary. Just a really, really easy one.

Make a list of your favorite veggies, or set a time today to stop at the grocery store for veggies (later try a farmer’s market). Or find a recipe or two that incorporates veggies.Set a time to walk today or tomorrow. Talk to your spouse about walking together. Get your walking shoes ready. Any of these steps will do — just do one.

Fill a thermos with water. Buy a reusable water bottle. Get rid of the sodas in your fridge. Choose one of these.

Get a garbage bag and toss your junk food.

Choose one, and do it. Celebrate (in your mind, not with a sweet treat). Do another small tiny easy step. Celebrate again. Tell people about the changes you’re making. Do another tiny step. Celebrate some more.

03/25/2014

In 9 years, Hanover Arc and Hanover Community Support Services have raised over $150.000 to help Hanover County residents with disabilities. As a result of this essential support, children and adults with disabilities and their families received scholarships for camp and educational programs, respite care, financial assistance to live independently and the gift of independence with adaptive equipment.

Personal Chef To Go will be a vendor at this important fundraising event and showcasing samples of our specialties. Judges will taste and vote for their favorite food and beverages. Winners receive a banner to display at their business.

In addition to tastings of food and beverages, there will be a “Mystery Gift” and Silent Auction to add to the fun-filled evening.

03/12/2014

Do you have a spare tire, love handles, muffin-top, or a belly bulge left over from the Winter? Or maybe it’s been accumulating for more than a few seasons? Did you have your cake, drinks, and cookies–and eat them too? Don’t fret. Here are a ten simple tricks that can help you make this a lighter and healthier Spring:

1. Drink plenty of water throughout the day to beat dehydration. Alcohol consumption, fatty foods, and insufficient water are some of the main reasons people feel “hung over” and heavy from the holidays. Every cell in your body needs adequate water to function properly so try to drink at least 2 Litres a day to flush fat and toxins out.

2. Take a high-quality B-complex and vitamin C supplement, both of which are depleted by alcohol consumption and stress-and chances are you had both during the holidays and many days since.

3. Eat fruit in the morning on an empty stomach. Fruit is the best food to keep the lymphatic system cleansed and moving properly. The lymphatic system is what I call “the body’s version of a street-cleaner”–it sweeps up toxins, fat, and the by-products of bodily processes to lessen pain, inflammation, cellulite, and toxic overload in the body. Just don’t overdo.

4. Eat a large green salad for lunch and dinner. And if you just can’t stand another salad, wrap it up! Put lettuce, sprouts, avocado, tomato, and cucumber (or some combination of these) in a wrap. Add a dash of sea salt and freshly cracked peppercorns and you have a delicious meal in a hurry.

5. Eat a small healthy snack every two hours to stabilize blood sugar. Wild blood sugar fluctuations can deplete your energy, cause weight gain, intensify food cravings, and depress your immune system, making you more vulnerable to those cold and flu bugs found in droves in the winter months. My preferred option is raw, unsalted almonds–they’re loaded with calcium and blood-stabilizing fiber and protein. Eat 10-12 as a snack between meals.

6. Avoid eating sweets, synthetic sweeteners or foods sweetened with them. Instead, eat fruit and sweeten herbal teas with a few drops of stevia–an herb that contains steviosides, substances that are naturally 1000 times sweeter than sugar, without the nasty effects on your blood sugar levels.

7. Be sure to fit some exercise into your day. A minimum of twenty minutes of vigorous activity will get your circulation going, improve lymph flow, increase energy, and help your body burn any bulges you may be carrying. If it’s too cold outside, try jumping on a mini-trampoline. It’s one of the best forms of exercise for getting your lymph to eliminate fatty deposits and cellulite in your body.

8. Avoid margarine and foods made with hydrogenated and trans fats. These toxic foods make your body’s detox organs like the liver sluggish. They also require huge amounts of energy to digest. They also lead to weight gain and are linked to a host of other health problems.

9. Avoid foods that contain synthetic colors, preservatives, and other additives. As I tell clients, “if you can’t read it, don’t eat it.” By avoiding them throughout the day, you are giving your liver a break so it can devote its energy to burning fat.

10. Add beans to your diet in soups, salads, stews, chili, or other foods. The humble legumes are the most overlooked healthy foods, yet they are packed with protein, fiber, and complex carbs (the good ones) that cleanse your bowels, stabilize blood sugar, and keep you feeling full for hours. Can’t stand the aftermath of eating beans-simply take a digestive enzyme that includes cellulase with meals that contain beans. Cellulase helps improve the digestion of beans.

With the help of a few health tricks, you can start Spring as a healthier, more energetic, and lighter version of you!

03/05/2014

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a popular and excellent tool for assisting you in determining which foods are best to eat or avoid for managing glucose (blood sugar) levels or for weight loss. As a Type 2 Diabetic focused on weight-loss, I refer to the Glycemic Index often. Think of it as a popularity contest for carbohydrates. Good carbs are more popular, while bad carbs don’t have many friends. The GI is literally a ranking system for carbohydrates on a scale from 0-100, according to how much they raise blood sugar levels after eating.

Foods with a high glycemic index (100 being the highest) are rapidly digested and absorbed. These types of foods are known to mark fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low GI foods are generally slow to digest and are not absorbed as quickly. They produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels—they also have proven health benefits too. Low glycemic foods help with glucose levels and weight control because good carbs help control and delay hunger so you feel fuller, longer.

High: 70 and up. Examples in this category include instant and long-grain white rice, certain kinds of brown rice, plain white bread, most potatoes, and watermelon, to name just a few. These are foods you’d want to stay away from, or eat only sparingly and earlier in the day.

Medium: 56 to 69. Examples include sweet corn, bananas, raw pineapple, raisins and certain types of ice cream. Foods in this classification should be eaten in moderation. Use your best judgment, though, as falling into an equivalent GI classification does not mean that two foods are equal in nutritional value as well. Case in point – ice cream. More often than not, you should opt for the fruits and vegetables in this classification.

Medication can be extremely expensive and a diet made up of low glycemic index foods can absolutely slash your medication costs. When you eat better, your body works better—this is based on real science and the unique knowledge that food is medicine.

Don’t know where to start? Let us help!

At Personal Chef To Go, the glycemic index is one of many tools that we use to ensure that our entrees are perfectly suited for healthy weight loss. That’s because, almost by default, a low glycemic index diet will include more fresh fruits and vegetables, more fiber, more dairy and more lean protein—all foods that offer essential nutrients, and are more likely to be lower in calories in the first place.

If you’re one of those people who cringe at the idea of having to count calories or track what you’re eating, Personal Chef To Go’s meal plans will be extremely beneficial to you. Our chefs work together to make sure that every bite of delicious food that we deliver follows this proven approach for healthier eating.

Why wait to see results, when you can begin today?

The great thing about our menus is that you do not have to wait until you reach your weight-loss goals to start seeing results. The vast majority of our Autoship program members see weight loss results quickly, and have reported being able to reduce blood pressure and diabetes medications. Some have even able to come off of them entirely and are able to maintain healthier weight and a healthier lifestyle with a Personal Chef To Go meal plan service.

Let us help you reach your goals!

For these reasons, we encourage you to give us a try (if you haven’t already) if even for just a few short weeks. Our Dinner Only service (5 meals) is a great way to try us out for a week, and it’s just $69.50 (shipping or delivery costs are calculated separately based on your location).